Symbol table entries for different object file types have slightly different interpretations for the st_value member.
In relocatable files, st_value holds alignment constraints for a symbol whose section index is SHN_COMMON.
In relocatable files, st_value holds a section offset for a defined symbol. st_value is an offset from the beginning of the section that st_shndx identifies.
In executable and shared object files, st_value holds a virtual address. To make these files' symbols more useful for the runtime linker, the section offset (file interpretation) gives way to a virtual address (memory interpretation) for which the section number is irrelevant.
Although the symbol table values have similar meanings for different object files, the data allow efficient access by the appropriate programs.